US/healthcare/reform/2009

About

Skyrocketing health insurance costs combined with the 2008 financial meltdown to result in many people suddenly finding themselves unable to afford health insurance.

In response to popular outcry combined with longterm dissatisfaction with the American healthcare system, the Obama-Biden administration began a push for reform in the middle months of 2009.

The proposed plans immediately came under fire from members of the political Right, who have generally become the pawns of well-funded interests of all varieties; in this case, the medical insurance industry was found to be backing many of the protests and Tea Parties".

Reform legislation -- the Affordable Care Act, also commonly referred to as Obamacare -- eventually passed in March, 2010, with absolutely no Republican support -- even though the bill was essentially identical to a Republican proposal, often referred to as "Gingrichcare" or "Romneycare", made during the Clinton-Gore administration as a counter to Clinton's proposed reforms.

The Right has continued to attack Obamacare ever since, almost always with disinformation.

Pages

• /disinfo: disinformation spread during this discussion
• /public option: discussion of the "public option", which was ultimately never placed on the table

Initiatives

• 2009-07-14 US 111 HR 3200 (OpenCongress, THOMAS), "America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009", has the backing of Obama-Biden; more complex, retains option to use existing insurance plans
• 2009-01-26 US 111 HR 676 (THOMAS, United States National Health Care Act [W]) sponsored by John Conyers, Jr. "To provide for comprehensive health insurance coverage for all United States residents, improved health care delivery, and for other purposes." Essentially makes Medicare universal; single-payer plan. Obama-Biden is not backing this bill, as Obama has apparently dropped support for single-payer, and it seems to have dropped off the radar -- which is too bad, because most people who support HR3200 would probably support HR676 even more.
  • FAQ
  • 2013-02-11 Call Congress – Single-Payer Bill to be Reintroduced
  • 2013-02-14 Conyers Reintroduces National Single-Payer Health Care Bill

Links

News

• 2010-03-25 [L..T] Final Votes in Congress Cap Battle on Health Bill «Congress on Thursday gave final approval to a package of changes to the Democrats' sweeping health care overhaul, capping a bitter partisan battle over the most far-reaching social legislation in nearly half a century.»
• 2009-11-06 [L..T] Kline: Democrats spend too much, accomplish too little «For months, I've been calling on my Democratic colleagues to press the 'reset' button and embrace commonsense, targeted solutions to strengthen and reform health care. Democrats have instead left Republicans with no alternative but to propose our own plan.»
• 2009-09-10 [L..T] Did You Wonder Why 'Lord' Boustany Gave The Republican Rebuttal? Maybe Because He's Been Sued For Malpractice So Many Times. «I think "Doctor" Boustany (as he prefers to be called) is an interesting choice for the GOP rebuttal. After all, not only does he seem to enjoy seeking legal redress for some colorful problems, he's also been the defendant in at least eight malpractice suits.»
• 2009-09-10 [L..T] Boustany Sees Areas of Agreement with Obama? «Just last night, Boustany, in a prepared, written speech, said policymakers need to "start over" from scratch. About 12 hours later, Boustany believes Democrats and Republicans already agree on 80% of the entire reform initiative?»
• 2009-09-04 [L..T] The right way to debate healthcare reform «...the people speaking with Franken were tea party activists who "staked out" Franken's booth at what looks like the state fair "and confronted him loudly when he arrived." .. What ended up happening, though, was a civil, reasoned discussion about the current healthcare situation in the U.S.»
• 2009-08-11 [L..T] The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare «While we clearly need health-care reform, the last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health-care system.»
• 2009-08-11 [L..T] Why Aren't Progressives Disrupting ObamaCare Town Halls? «These "town meetings" are really nothing but propaganda sessions run by members of Congress who are trying to burnish their fraudulent credentials as public servants, and trying to perpetrate a huge fraud of a health care bill that purports to be a progressive "reform" of the US health care system, but that actually further entrenches the control of that system by the insurance industry, and to a lesser extent, the hospital and drug industry.»
• 2009-08-09 [L..T] How the White House's Deal With Big Pharma Undermines Democracy «I'm a strong supporter of universal health insurance, and a fan of the Obama administration. But I'm appalled by the deal the White House has made with the pharmaceutical industry's lobbying arm to buy their support.»
• 2009-08-07 [L..T] What if We Win the Healthcare Fight? «If we win, we'll trumpet the success as a great triumph for liberty and individualism. Really though it will be a triumph for inertia.»
• 2009-07-22 [L..T] Uninsured Travel from Across US for Free Healthcare from Relief Group Remote Area Medical «As debate continues in Washington over healthcare reform, thousands of Americans in neighboring Virginia are preparing to line up this weekend to receive free healthcare provided by a relief organization called Remote Area Medical. We speak to the group's founder, Stan Brock.»
• 2009-07-06 [L..T] How Long Does it Take to Set Up a Health Co-Op? “Paul Keckley, executive director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, tells Bloomberg that if existing regional co-ops are the model, such plans can take decades to fully develop.”